Klaipėdos universitetas

Since 2010, several archaeological sites in Lithuania have been geomagnetically surveyed, as part of a German-Lithuanian cooperation project. Within the framework of this cooperation, the Ėgliškiai/Anduliai cemetery, the Taurapilis barrow site, Taurapilis and Opstainiai/Vilkyškiai (outer settlements), and Jakai/Sudmantai (the enclosure) have been investigated. In almost all the sites, features and structures were detected that enable us to make some initial statements about the structure and dimensions of the archaeological monuments. For some sites, the surveys also provided very precise and hitherto unknown information about the context of the settlement. These new results show clearly the potential of non-invasive, especially geomagnetic, methods for archaeological purposes. However, it should be admitted that only a combination of several methods and tools enables a maximum level of knowledge and information on the scientific value and potential of archaeological sites and landscapes. The task for the coming years must therefore focus on the application and combination of further noninvasive geophysical (ground penetrating radar, electrical resistivity) and remote sensing methods in archaeological surveys.

This article presents an analysis of the spatial structure and the chronological development of Opstainis, Vilkyškiai Iron-Age hill-fort settlement, on the basis of archaeological and geomagnetic survey data. It has been ascertained that the hill-fort and the settlement were inhabited throughout the first millennium AD. The currently available scientific research data from Opstainis, Vilkyškiai Iron-Age hill-fort and settlement (half-sunken building or pit houses, oval-shaped and pear-shaped flatbottom household pits, and shards of handmade pottery decorated with cross-shaped imprint ornaments) serve as indications of contacts between the inhabitants of the lower reaches of the River Nemunas and the southwest Baltic Sea region in the second half of the first millennium AD.

Current advances in science allow us to survey and investigate archaeological sites without destroying them. This article presents the results of integrated archaeological research in the Eketė locality. The object of study is the Iron Age/Early Medieval hill-fort and ancient settlement complex. The aim of the research is to recreate the development of the formation of the hill-fort and settlement using widely applied non-destructive remote sensing methods of landscape archaeology: the analysis of aerial photographic images and geophysical prospecting research data.